Latest news

Towards EU energy policies ‘clean’ of nuclear power

More than 65,000 of us from across Europe signed against financing nuclear power with public EU money in less than a week. Thanks to this amazing reaction, we were able to bring the voice of the European citizens into the discussion.

 

Who bears the tax burden?

CBCR_delivery_April_16.jpgWhile citizens have to pay taxes, most countries in Europe let wealthy multinational corporations get away with dodging billions of euros. After years of pressure from people like us, the EU is now considering whether to force multinational corporations to be transparent about how much tax they pay. Obviously, corporations are putting all their lobbying power against this.

We decided we have to be stronger than them and brought together more than 110,000 Europeans from our community ready to take action, who joined thousands of others from other communities. Last April, we presented our leaders with the signatures of more than 325,000 people across Europe. While this petition is now closed you can still act for tax justice: help us stop corporations using profit-shifting to avoid paying taxes!

 

No patents on plants. We will hold them to account!

Our protest against patents on life has grown huge! More than 820,000 Europeans from all 38 member states of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) have now joined the demand to stop patents on plants and animals. In June, more than 100 activists showed up in front of the Patent Office to call on the decision-makers to change this practice and delivered our signatures. The EU must now publish a clarification on the patent law - and the EPO has to implement it. Join our petition to ensure regulation on patents is enforced!

 

Stop private tribunals for corporations

The European Commission plans to give more to corporations to sue European countries, despite broad public pressure not to extend corporation’s privileges, including more than 93,00 of you! We know this is a long term battle, but we also know it’s worth the fight that’s why we are still watching and acting. Don’t miss the boat: sign and fight for a European democracy led by the people and not by greedy corporations!

 

Great news: a Panama Papers Inquiry Committee

More than 47,000 Europeans asked EU leaders to take action to fight tax fraud, tax evasion and money laundering, and we delivered all those signatures to the members of the European Council. Following that, in June, the European Parliament set up a Panama Paper Inquiry Committee to investigate the maladministration in the application of EU laws on money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion. There’s more work to be done, but this is a great start!

 

A first step towards participatory democracy

The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) allows people to participate directly in the creation of EU laws. Over six million Europeans have used it to stand up to defend media freedom, water as a public good, restriction of animal testing, high quality European education for all, and many other issues that affect us all. Sadly the ECI has proven to be highly inefficient and lacks teeth. This tool is a great idea and a wonderful opportunity for democracy but is currently too weak for participation to mean actual change led by people in Europe. With your support, WeMove Europe, Democracy International and Mehr Demokratie delivered 76,397 signatures to Members of the European Parliament. Watch the video of the delivery action here!

 

Dangerous ‘Trade Secrets Protection’ law

We lost a battle but achieved so much more than we had hoped. In just a few days we collected over 280,000 signatures calling for the rejection of legislation that puts whistleblowers and journalists at risk of being imprisoned for working in the public interest. It looked like the vote was going to be postponed - thanks in part to the pressure we put together on the European Parliament. Sadly the vote went ahead and the law was passed. Now the law needs to be adapted by each EU country before it takes effect. This will be a crucial moment for us to put pressure on our national governments. Can you help us carry on into this next round with a small donation?

 

And there has been more

In the past, we also worked on campaigns aimed at encouraging our community in the UK to take a stand on the EU referendum, exposing the Volkswagen fraud, rejecting the xenophobia and intolerance that is spreading throughout Europe, and demanding EU leaders to adopt more safe asylum options for refugees, among others.

Ultimately, all our campaigns pursue our common vision of a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability and citizen-led democracy. Thanks for being part of this!